Zoom Zoom
by Erin87
Summary: A short ficlet set in an alternate version of S5 where Elizabeth is still there. It's Elizabeth who finds John and Rodney racing cars in 'The Prodigal' and she decides to take the outcome of the race into her own hands.


A.N.1: This is just a short little fic I did last night, completely and totally spur of the moment. It's actually based on a wallpaper I made that kind of wistfully imagines what it would have been like if Elizabeth had been there in seasons 4 and 5. One of the thing on the wallpaper is a manip of the scene in the S5 ep 'The Prodigal' where John and Rodney are racing toy cars down one of the hallways. I took a shot of this scene and added Liz to it, watching the proceedings with an amused look on her face. Then, rather late last night, I started thinking about it some more, about how she would be secretly rooting for John to win, and the following ficlet was born.

So, after that rather long explanation, all I can say is: Enjoy!

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A noise reached Elizabeth's ears; she paused for a moment as she walked down the hallway. There it was again, a tiny whirring sound, kind of like... She looked up in time to see two shining electric toy race cars zip past on the connecting hall. Kind of like those. She resumed walking and stopped again when she reached the corner, keeping herself hidden behind the wall. She could hear two voices, each urging their cars on to faster and faster speeds.

"Come on, Sheppard, crash!"

"I don't think so, Rodney. Why don't _you_ crash?"

"Yeah, like that's going to happen."

The cars whizzed by again, one yellow and one red, back towards the direction of the voices. The yellow one was currently in the lead, but she didn't know who...

"Ha! See? I'm winning," crowed Rodney. Ah, that answered that question.

"Well, don't start celebrating yet; there's still another lap to go."

The two of them continued to trash talk each other as Elizabeth listened, Rodney being particularly obnoxious. The electric whir of the cars faded as they raced down the hall and then began to get louder again.

"Come on baby, you can do it!" Rodney pleaded with his car, which was apparently still in the lead.

An idea entered Elizabeth's head and she smiled as she took a carefully timed step out into the hallway.

"Woah!" cried Rodney. The yellow car swerved madly as it tried to avoid Elizabeth's feet, skidding sideways and nearly tipping over. Taking full advantage of Rodney's sudden decrease in speed, John's car zoomed ahead towards the strip of masking tape that served as a finish line. Elizabeth jumped back out of the way, casting surprised eyes on the cars for effect and then looking down the hall towards the two drivers.

John was focused on his car, biting his lip in concentration. Rodney was grimacing as he desperately tried to make up time, but it was no use.

"Yes!!" exclaimed John, lifting his remote control into the air. Elizabeth concealed a grin and walked over to them, turning to watch as Rodney's car careened over the finish line, so out of control that it flipped and went into a series of barrel rolls. Rodney just stared in silence, slowly lowering his arms and his controller to his sides.

John winced and Elizabeth lightly placed her fingers over her lips in a very convincing imitation of shock as she looked over at her chief scientist. "Sorry, Rodney."

He looked up at her and gave a twitch that might have been supposed to pass for a reassuring smile. "No problem," he said weakly, "not your fault..."

"Well," she said comfortingly, "it could have been worse. You could have been in the lead." Rodney just gave her a pained look. "Oh... sorry."

He nodded and flapped a hand in the air without another word as he shuffled down the hall to collect his battered car. Elizabeth turned to John. He was standing there, arms folded across his chest, watching her with a suspicious look on his face.

"What?" She returned the look with one of her own.

John glanced down the hall to make sure Rodney was out of earshot and then narrowed his eyes at her. "You did that on purpose," he accused, surprise in his voice, as if he couldn't quite believe it.

Elizabeth just raised her eyebrows at him. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said innocently. Their eyes met again and she allowed a small knowing smirk to creep over her face.

John's hazel eyes lit up with triumph and his mouth parted as if to say something, but Elizabeth just smiled wider and turned away. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked down the hallway. She passed Rodney on the way and briefly laid a consoling hand on his shoulder. He barely noticed, too busy muttering something to himself about 'next time' and 'getting Sheppard'. Elizabeth felt a small bit of alarm when she just caught the words 'bigger propulsion system', and made a mental note to keep Rodney away from any rocket-building supplies for a little while.

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A.N.2: Thanks for reading! Reviews are _always_ appreciated. :)


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